STOP: make sure security measures are in place. THINK: about the consequences of your actions and behaviors online. CONNECT: and enjoy the internet.

General Tips and Advice:

Keep a clean machine

Protect your personal information

Be web wise

Be a good online citizen

Own your online presence

It is critical for anyone using the internet to continually learn about and consistently practice good cybersecurity habits. To better protect yourself, you should secure your home networks and mobile devices and take the time to learn how to use the internet more safely, securely and responsibly. Learn more about the top consumer cyber concerns, learn simple steps to protect against these concerns and what to do if you fall victim to cybercrime. www.stopthinkconnect.org

Cybersecurity in the Workplace Is Everyone’s Business

Whatever your place of business ‒ whether it’s a large or small organization, healthcare provider, academic institution or government agency – creating a culture of cybersecurity from the breakroom to the board room is essential and a shared responsibility among all employees, also when having a health related business is extremely important to stay away from clinical negligence, it can cause you lots of problems.

Every organization needs a plan for employee education, training and awareness that emphasizes risk management, resistance and resilience. Learn more

Today’s Predictions for Tomorrow’s Internet

With the explosion of digital interconnectivity, it is critical to explore everyone’s role in protecting our cyber ecosystem.

Smart cities, connected healthcare devices, digitized records and smart cars and homes have become our new reality. While there are tremendous benefits of massive interconnectivity, it is critical to understand how to use cutting-edge technology in safe and secure ways.

User names and Passwords: Once hacked, cyber criminals can install programs on your computer that capture all your keystrokes, including username and passwords. That information is used to access into online accounts.

Email Harvesting: Once hacked, cyber criminals can read your email for information they can sell to others.

Virtual Goods: Once hacked, cyber criminals can copy and steal any virtual goods you have and sell them to others.

Botnet: Once hacked, your computer can be connected to an entire network of hacked computers controlled by the cyber criminal.

We lead internet-connected, digital lives. From our desk and homes to on the go, we work, learn and play online. As technology evolves, so do the many methods used to exploit technology for criminal purposes. Nearly all crime that once was committed in person, by mail, or over the telephone can be committed over the Internet. The criminal element is empowered by the perceived anonymity of the Internet and the ease of access to potential victims. Criminals use social engineering to prey on their victims’ sympathy, generosity, or vulnerability.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center, IC3, was designed to help address all types of cyber crime through its complaint system. The mission of IC3 is to provide the public with a reliable and convenient reporting mechanism to submit information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation concerning suspected Internet-facilitated criminal activity and to develop effective alliances with industry partners. If you have fallen victim to an internet crime you can file a complaint with IC3. www.ic3.gov

Recently one of the three national consumer credit reporting agencies, Equifax, announced a major data breach affecting over 143 million Americans. This is what we know according to Equifax: the data breach occurred May – July 2017, and the stolen information includes consumers’ names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses and, in some cases, driver’s license numbers. Approximately 209,000 credit card numbers and dispute documents with personally identifiable information for roughly 182,000 consumers were also stolen. There is no evidence of unauthorized access to consumers’ credit reporting databases.

While this is not a breach of Signature Bank’s systems, we take the security of our clients very seriously. Therefore, we are providing you with the information we know about this massive breach and the steps you can take to protect your personally identifiable information if you so desire. In light of this incident we are also asking you to be especially vigilant and report any suspicious activity in your Signature Bank accounts to us by calling 952.936.7800.

Equifax has established a website for consumers to check if their information was exposed: www.equifaxsecurity2017.com. This website has not been verified by regulators, but may help to determine whether you have been affected by the breach. To use the website, click the “Potential Impact” tab, enter your last name and the last 6 digits of your social security number. We urge you to take standard precautions, including using a secure computer and an encrypted network connection when accessing this site.

• Review your account statements. You can also monitor your account activity online at any time through online or mobile banking. Please contact us at 952.936.7800 or info@signaturebankonline.com to set up access to your accounts and learn about text and email alerts.

• If you spot any suspicious transactions, please contact us immediately at 952.936.7800.

• Consider freezing your credit file (see https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0497-credit-freeze-faqs). A freeze restricts access to your credit report, making it nearly impossible for someone to open a new account or line of credit in your name. If you are a victim of identity theft, Minnesota law allows you to place a credit freeze for free. Otherwise, there is a $5 fee. The Commerce website has a form you can use to request a freeze from the three major credit reporting agencies.

• Review your credit reports for accuracy. Call any one of the three credit reporting agencies to receive your free annual credit report or visit www.annualcreditreport.com. Consider requesting one from each agency every three to four months.

• Contact the credit reporting agencies to notify them of any suspected fraud or identity theft.

If you believe you are the victim of identity theft, contact your local law enforcement office and/or your state attorney general. Finally, you may also want to inform yourself about recovering from identity theft, which is available from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at https://www.identitytheft.gov/ or by calling 1-877-IDTHEFT (1-877-438-4338). The FTC also offers general information to protect your online presence at https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/topics/privacy-identity-online-security.

To help combat the ongoing threats of identity theft, phishing and malware attacks, we want to help educate our clients. We have provided best practices and useful links to help you protect your information. Working together, we can minimize the risk of future attacks.

In response to recent scams, we have included additional questions in our wire transfer and ACH process that we will ask to ensure the transactions are legitimate.

We offer the following to help protect your identity and your assets:

Free Online Banking – With online banking, you have access to your accounts 24/7 and can maintain even more security with Account Alert Messaging Consumer Online Bill Pay and Business Online Bill Pay.

Free E-Statements – Choosing electronic statements no only prevents information from getting lost or stolen when en route to your address, but it allows you quicker access to statements each month and stores years of information conveniently.

Secure tokens – An additional layer of protection when logging in to your account.

Dual control – The ability to utilize two individuals for ACH and Wire transfers.

Signature Bank will NEVER contact a client by phone or e-mail and ask for account numbers, passwords or personal information. If you receive a call or e-mail claiming to be from Signature Bank contact us immediately and forward any e-mails to our attention.

2. What You Can Do to Protect Yourself

In addition to the security features, included in our online banking products and services, there are additional security measures consumers can take to protect personal and financial data.

If you become aware of suspicious account activity, you should immediately contact the authorities, report the activity, and contact us as at 952-936-7800.

Review the following Cyber Security Tips to protect yourself and your business.

3. Cyber Security Tips

The threat of cyber fraud is real. According to the FBI, businesses throughout the world lost more than $1,000,000,000 in 2015! Learn how to protect yourself, your family and your devices with these tips and resources:

Think Before you Click

Do not click on social media links or email attachments unless you know the source. Cyber criminals use breaking news, fake shopping coupons and free travel scams to gain access to your information. You may receive emails appearing to be from organizations you do business with that entice you to click a malicious link. Instead of clicking on links, type in the address yourself or look it up on a search engine and follow that link. You can also call a company directly to confirm the legitimacy of an email’s claim. Additionally, look for typos or other visual errors in the email, which may indicate that it was not sent from the reputable company it claims to be. Hover your mouse over the sender’s email – it may say one thing but be a different address altogether.

Avoid Sensitive Transactions on Public Wi-Fi

Public Wi-Fi is convenient when you’re away from home and on the go, but not as secure as a password protected Wi-Fi or your home network. Save your online shopping, banking, or sensitive transactions for a secure connection, preferably when you’re back at your house. Disable automatic Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections on your devices when traveling.

Log Off

Don’t just close the browser when you’re done with your sensitive transactions, log off and then close the browser.

Set Strong Passwords

Setting passwords that are long, unique, and hard to guess is one of the most important things you can do to protect your online accounts. Changing passwords regularly and using different passwords for different accounts goes a long way to protecting your online information. Use unique passwords for all accounts. If you have the same password for all of your accounts, this increases the chance that a criminal can access other accounts if they figure out your password. Be creative: think of a special phrase and use the first letter of each word as your password. Substitute numbers for some words or letters. For example, “I want to see the Pacific Ocean” could become 1W2CtPo. Don’t write your passwords down, use a software to store them securely.

Secure your Accounts

Seek out protection beyond passwords. Many websites now offer additional ways to verify your identity before you conduct business on their sites, such as two-factor authentication. Use up to date virus protection on your devices and consider implementing firewalls.

Encrypt your Data

Keep your browser secure. To guard your online transactions, use encryption software that scrambles information you send over the internet. A “lock” icon on the status bar of your internet browser means your information will be safe when it’s transmitted. Look for the lock before you send personal or financial information online.

Download the Updates

Always update your phone and mobile devices with the latest updates and keep your apps updated on a regular basis.

Safely Dispose of Devices

Before you dispose of a mobile device, check the service provider’s website, or the device manufacturer’s website for information on how to delete information permanently, and how to save or transfer information to a new device. Remove the memory or subscriber identity module (SIM) card from a mobile device. Delete the phone book, lists of calls made and received, voicemails, messages sent and received, organizer folders, web search history, and photos. For computers, use a wipe utility program to overwrite the entire hard drive.

Don’t Overshare on Social Networking Sites

If you post too much information about yourself, an identity thief can find information about your life, use it to answer ‘challenge’ questions on your accounts, and get access to your money and personal information. Consider limiting access to your networking page to a small group of people. Never post your full name, address, phone number, or account numbers in publicly accessible sites. Wait to post pictures from trips and events until you return home. Posting your location also indicates that your house is empty, making it a prime target for break-ins. Frequently check a website’s privacy options to ensure you have enabled the highest level of privacy as options may get updated or changed completely.

The threat of cyber fraud is real. According to the FBI, businesses throughout the world lost more than $1,000,000,000 in 2015! Learn how to protect yourself, your family and your devices with these tips and resources

The fraud world is constantly changing and adapting to how we use technology. Below are some links to recent fraud incidents that have impacted some of our clients. Learn more about these schemes and how to protect yourself and your business.

According to the FBI, Business Email Compromise (BEC) fraud has victimized more than 22,000 organizations and is responsible for over $5.3 billion in total losses since October 2013. The FBI reports a 2,370% increase in BEC fraud related losses from January 2015 to December 2016. Learn more about how this fraud works and how to protect your business. (link: https://www.knowbe4.com/ceo-fraud)

The FDIC often hears from bank clients who believe they may be the victims of financial fraud or theft. FDIC Consumer News includes crime prevention tips in practically every issue. As part of that coverage, we feature here a list of 10 scams that you should be aware of, plus key defenses to remember. (link: https://www.fdic.gov/consumers/consumer/news/cnsum17/scams.html)

Now Leaving Signature Bank

You are leaving the Signature Bank web site. The site you have chosen is independent from Signature Bank. We do not control the site and do not endorse their products. We do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, efficiency or timeliness of the information contained therein. Be aware that the Privacy Policy of the linked web site is not that of Signature Bank. This web site may provide less security than Signature Bank's web site.

For questions about your existing Signature Bank accounts, please sign in to Signature Bank Online. Transmission of sensitive information through email is not secure. Please call us at 952-936-7800 with questions regarding confidential information.